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Ad Publishing - To Pop or Not to Pop?

What are the factors that influence your decision to serve any kind of pop advertising (e.g., pop-up, pop-under, pop-in, etc.) on a particular web site?

I've done just a little experimenting with pop campaigns ranging from a few days to a few weeks, and so far I've found that these factors are important:

1. Expectations of user audience. For example, if you are offering a free service, how much advertising are they willing to put up with from pop ads to still get to the content or service your site provides.
2. Ability to shut down illegal malware ads running any kind of adware, spyware, viruses, etc.
3. Overall ability to manage frequency of how many pop ads are served for a given time frame (per browser session, per 12-hour period, per day, etc.).
4. Revenue comparisons. So far, I've seen that no other CPM comes even close to that paid by pop ads, which pretty much explains why I'm even bothering to consider serving them over the long term.

I'm new to the pluses and minuses of using pop ads, so any comments or suggestions are really appreciated!

I'd say it really depends on the factors you mentioned, and chiefly #1. Pretty much everybody (myself included) hates pop-up ads with a passion. There isn't much question about that. However, I think that users are willing to put up with them at certain types of sites. If there's something substantial being provided free, I expect and tolerate a few pop-ups. However, if more than one new window opens at any given time, I get aggravated and will usually leave the site.

For those of us who are using (or previously used) pop ad programs, which programs have given you the best controls to manage which ads are served, especially to avoid malware.

I've tried PayPopUp.com, which has a neat "report illegal ads" feature. Like many brokers though, PayPopUp often subcontracts inventory with other firms so that they themselves only have limited control of which ad content is served in the pop windows. Hence, the "report illegal ads" feature. Downside: Decent rates, but still lower than others such as PopUpTraffic.com.

PopUpTraffic.com has very high payout rates, but I haven't yet found the same level of controls. Also, when I briefly experimented with their ads, I found that the pop under ad took long enough to load that it caused me to wonder what kind of script might have been installed on my computer. (I got spooked and removed the ad script right away.) I'm planning to do some further test runs on one of my smaller sites to look more closely at what goes on when the pops are served (will post any results I find).

I guess here's another question: who is the "ideal" ad broker for pops (for basic criteria, refer to the four talking points and replies listed above).

1. Stick to pop-unders only. They don't "interrupt" a person's site navigation, whereas a pop-up does.

2. Use them only if from a reputable ad service. (I can vouch for Fastclick).

3. Use them only if it's possible to limit them to 1 per visit or even less.

Personally, I've been using Fastclick pop-unders since day one that they started offering them (years!). Pays more than banners. But their code is solid enough that people don't get more than 1 per 12 hrs.

I just tried Casale Media's for the weekend and unfortunately I have now removed them. Although the account settings offer a setting for limiting frequency, when I test it on my site pop-unders appeared for every single page refresh. That's unacceptable. So I have removed them (as well as emailing Casale tech support).

They both are pretty good, and their rates are generally pretty close. If I had to chose between the two I'd be stuck. I prefer the Interclick way of doing things, and I also like the slightly better control fastclick give me.

I just tried Casale Media's for the weekend and unfortunately I have now removed them. Although the account settings offer a setting for limiting frequency, when I test it on my site pop-unders appeared for every single page refresh. That's unacceptable. So I have removed them (as well as emailing Casale tech support).

I've never had an issue with that. Maybe you were blocking their cookies?

Thanks, Aspen. Can you share any tips on how you detect those download-based adas? (Hopefully this isn't a question with too obvious of an answer; I'm still a novice when it comes to publishing pop ads).

The best I can think of at the moment is to manually monitor test runs from one of my smaller sites to see what kind of pops appear. If either I or a malware detection program spots something, then I know I don't want to serve those ads or ads from that vendor.

Personally, I've been using Fastclick pop-unders since day one that they started offering them (years!). Pays more than banners. But their code is solid enough that people don't get more than 1 per 12 hrs.

~RB

I'm going to check out Fastclick as well and see how they do. Thanks, RB!

No to PopUps

I use Firefox so I never notice PopUps. Personally I think a lot more money can be made by optimizing you current mix of contextual and banner advertising.
Are you placing your ads in the right places?
How relevant are they?
What audience are you targeting?
PopUps are a great way to drive away traffic.

But I have tested out every Popup provider. Even ones I knew wouldn't pay. And PopUptraffic had by far the worst count of any network I used. I even used one once that only counted US pops per 72 hours. And they beat the PUT count 3:1

PayPopUp which even admits they pick random numbers out of their butt Beat PUT like 11:1 9with a 24 hour cookie)

In August I ran my site without any popunders at all. I was sure that I would get many more pageviews, but in fact it was so close to the same pageviews as with popunders. I have now enabled the popunders again and I have not seen a drop in visitors nor pageviews, just an increase in income. So there you have it.

Of course it heavily depends on your content. Some content attracts people with less tolerance for annoying pops.

Using tab browsing in multiple windows, I find pop-unders that get through the block to be the most annoying. They screw with the browser's focus by hiding the advert and focusing on the website that loaded them, even though that website should be hidden in a tab that I have not yet selected to view. Effectively they screw up usability.

Just a status update that I'm currently trying CasaleMedia, and I am really impressed and happy with the following:

1. control panel - amazing stats and controls, including the ability to include or exclude specific advertisers.
2. payout rates - eCPM rates are competitive not just for popunders but also leaderboards, skyscrapers, and rectangles.